Derriere, 2005

This original fine art stone sculpture of a female derriere is like a high relief art work. Only the rear half of the nude female’s lower torso is visible and the bottom of the art work is slightly curved. This allows for a single point to touch the display surface and therefore the sculpture can easily turn when pushed.

Sculptor Michael Binkley introduced movement into the piece by carving the upper body leaning to the right in a contraposto pose.

Binkley carved this sculpture from a variety of white marble called statuario which comes from the quarries above the famous town of Carrara, Italy. This marble is recognized internationally as the finest statuary carving marble in the world for its almost pure white colour. However, Binkley repfers when a stone has some character of colour pattern, and this one had a lick of grey veining on the right thigh, emulating a stocking top. There were also some markings of butterscotch brown for interest.

Binkley created a matte finish on this sculpture so the surfaces were silky smooth to the touch, but the marble could hold shadow effectively. He feels that this type of surface treatment is crucial for his figurative works, as shadows describe the details of the composition instead of reflecting light as a polished surface would.